from subscribers that are looking for

fast, fresh, and easy pasta recipes.

So today, I'm gonna share three

of my very favorites with you

including a beautiful shrimp farfalle,

my lazy lasagna bake,

and finally a Greek chicken penne

that your entire family will love.

There are lots of substitutions you could try,

and you can remove the meat from any of them

to make them vegetarian options.

All right, so let's get started

with my shrimp farfalle.

This is an absolute go-to recipe in my house

because it's fresh, quick, and easy,

and it's really, really light

considering it's a pasta dish.

Today, we're using farfalle,

otherwise known as bow-tie pasta,

but you could do this with any pasta you like,

a linguini,

a spaghetti,

an angel hair pasta,

all of those would definitely do the trick.

Here I have some water at a rolling boil.

As you can see, there's a whole lot of energy

trapped in this pot,

and that's what you want.

You want a lot of water

for your pasta to swim around in.

That's actually going to prevent it from sticking.

What we're gonna do is add just a handful

of salt to the water,

and then in goes our pasta.

Once our pasta's in, we just want to give it

a really quick stir,

and then we want to get it back to a boil

as soon as possible.

I like to put a wooden spoon

across the top of my pot.

This actually prevents it from boiling over.

We're going to cook these for about nine minutes

until they are al dente.

Resist the urge to rinse it.

I don't know why people do that.

Just leave your pasta as is

and get back to your sauce.

So, in a frying pan, I have some butter

and a little splash of olive oil.

Adding the olive oil not only adds flavor

but also prevents the butter from burning,

so it's definitely a good idea to do it.

To our butter, we're going to add some shallots

and some garlic.

Let these cook up until they become fragrant,

probably about two or three minutes.

To that, we are going to add our shrimp.

Now, I like to peel my shrimp ahead of time

because I just find it makes the pasta

much, much easier to eat.

We're gonna top that with a little bit

of salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes.

We're also going to add a good splash of white wine.

Now, if you don't drink or you don't like cooking with wine

that is absolutely fine, you can replace this

with either vegetable or chicken broth,

both will work just as well.

I'm also gonna add the juice of half a lemon.

I just want to start building up flavor.

Once that's all heated up,

we're going to throw in

a handful of beautiful cherry tomatoes cut in half,

and then some nice spinach.

I'm gonna cover this with a lid

to allow our spinach to wilt

and our shrimp to cook up beautifully,

and three to five minutes later,

you have a beautiful sauce

just ready to be poured over your pasta.

What we're looking for are for our shrimp

to be opaque and bright pink,

and these look gorgeous.

This is perfect.

So we're going to return our farfalle

to the large pot we cooked it in,

and then pour all of this beautiful

shrimp, spinach, and tomato mixture on top.

We'll give it a good stir,

put it in our serving dish,

and then finish it off with some more fresh lemon,

and this is absolutely critical,

we're going to top it

with some fresh grated parmesan,

and I mean, a lot.

You don't want to ever skimp on the parmesan.

Parmesan is like flavor loaded,

and this dish really, really needs it.

So we're gonna top it with beautiful parmesan,

and boom, it's ready to serve.

It is honestly no more than 15 minutes prep,

and it's healthy and delicious,

and your entire family is going to love it.

If you don't eat pasta, don't sweat it,

you can actually do this very same thing,

and pour it over cooked quinoa.

Next up, my lazy lasagna bake.

Perfect for those weeknights

where you just don't feel like cooking.

So, I'm starting with some rotini.

You can do this with any kind of pasta you like.

It's so versatile and so, so simple.

Then, to my frying pan, I'm going to add

a big splash of olive oil,

and then some red onions.

Once my red onions start to soften up,

about two or three minutes,

I'm going to add some garlic.

Today in this recipe,

I'm gonna be using some Italian sausage

that I've just removed from the casings.

I'm using about three sausages,

but you could use as many or as few as you like.

And then you just want to go at it with your spatula

for a few minutes and just break it up nicely.

You want it to be in, sort of, bits.

Cook them down until there's no more pinkness.

What I love about this recipe

is that it's totally customizable.

You can use hot Italian sausage, or mild.

You can use ground beef,

or you could even use ground poultry

if you don't eat red meat.

You can also make this dish entirely vegetarian.

It really is up to you.

Next, what we're gonna do is add our crushed tomatoes.

You can buy these in a jar,

or buy them in a can, or better yet,

do your own at the end of the season.

To that I'm gonna add a little bit of Italian seasoning

and some salt and pepper

and some red chili flakes for just a touch of heat.

I'm gonna let this simmer for about ten minutes

and let all these flavors get incorporated,

and then I'm going to add some fresh spinach.

I'll put the lid back on,

and two minutes later, all that spinach will be wilted,

and this sauce will be ready to go.

So, I've got my rotini back in my big pot,

I'm gonna pour my sauce on top

and give it all a good stir,

and now we could stop here.

This is good enough to eat already,

but this is a lasagna bake.

So, what we're gonna do is create layers

of this gorgeous pasta and mozzarella cheese.

So, I'm gonna put down a layer of pasta,

and then a layer of mozzarella,

and a layer of pasta,

and a layer of mozzarella,

and then another layer of pasta,

and so on, until I've filled my dish.

For anyone who's counting calories,

you can skip directly to the Greek pasta

that is coming up after this.

Cover it with a lot of mozzarella cheese

and top it with some shredded parmesan.

This is gonna help it crisp up,

and just add another level of flavor.

Into the oven it's gonna go

for about 20 to 30 minutes,

and at the very end,

I'm going to broil it for about a minute,

just to make sure it gets a nice, crispy crust.

And look at this,

dinner is served!

Twenty minutes of effort,

and the results are absolutely delicious.

You can also make this ahead and freeze it

for those nights where you just don't feel

like cooking at all.

Finally, I'm gonna show you this amazing Greek penne dish.

Now, if you're a vegetarian,

just leave out the chicken.

This is the perfect option for you.

So I've cooked off some penne.

It's hanging out in a colander standing by.

I have my frying pan going.

I'm going to add some olive oil,

and to that I'm going to add some red onions.

Get those frying up.

You want to give your onions a chance

just to soften up before you add your garlic.

I'm gonna let my garlic heat up,

and then I'm going to just brown off my chicken.

And, I'm gonna give my chicken some quick seasoning

with some Greek seasoning, some salt.

Once the chicken is browned on all sides,

you're going to add a jar of diced tomatoes.

Now, you can buy these canned,

or you could actually add fresh tomatoes.

I prefer using the jarred kind

because it's got extra juice

so you really get that extra saucy flavor,

but if you only have fresh tomatoes on hand,

that is totally fine.

To that, I'm gonna add some chopped zucchini,

some marinated artichoke hearts,

and some chopped kalamata olives.

Look at all these flavors coming together,

they're totally delicious.

So I'm gonna let this simmer for a few minutes

and let all these flavors incorporate.

When it's ready, I'm gonna pour it over my penne.

Our final few steps, I'm just gonna zest

a lemon over top

just to add some more freshness,

and then mix in a whole lot of feta cheese,

because, of course, it wouldn't be a Greek pasta

without some feta.

We're gonna put it in our serving dish,

top it with a little more feta cheese,

and oh my gosh,

if you could smell this,

you would be in heaven.

I hope you'll give these three

delicious pasta recipes a try,

and if you do, be sure to tweet me

or Instagram me a photo of your creations.

I love to see what you're coming up with

in your own kitchen,

and of course, be sure to subscribe to The Domestic Geek

for lots more deliciousness

just like this.